Mathematical Opportunity!

The app was produced by Cartoon Network and designed by Ham in the Fridge. My company Zachstronaut LLC was hired by Ham in the Fridge to program the app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Oh my glob! So Many App Features

The app is conceptually a virtual Beemo, which was a brilliant idea from Ham and Cartoon Network. You can shake, tickle, and poke Beemo. Beemo reacts with a number of emotions and can say all sorts of things.

I programmed the entire app primarily in JavaScript, with minimal Objective C where necessary. I had a lot of fun writing the code to detect the various touch and accelerometer events to trigger the reactions. I had to write a custom animation playback routine to support the dozens of facial animations. It took a fair amount of tweaking to arrive at something that was responsive, ran the animations smoothly, and could do just-in-time loading of animations in order to conserve memory.

In addition to interacting directly with the Beemo character in the app, you can access Beemo's Menu to reach a ton of other functionality. There's actually a lot of things to do inside the app. I spent many weeks programming everything, and I'm really happy how it turned out.

Beemo has a Camera feature that lets you snap pictures, or pick Adventure Time background images, and then apply stickers to create your own scenes. There's a Soundboard with tons of audio from the cartoon. There's an Alarms feature. One of my favorite features is Music where you take off Beemo's faceplate, and then you can bend his circuits to play notes and beats. The app also has Wallpapers and Ringtones using art and audio from the show.

Who wants to play video games?

In addition, the app has three mini-games you can play, all of which are references from the cartoon.

Pro Football 1861

The gameplay is very reminiscent of old school handheld fixed segment LCD games, whereas the graphics have kind of an Atari feel. A CPU Abe Lincoln throws footballs, and you've got to kick them. If you miss too many, the CPU wins.

Kompy's Kastle

This is a side scrolling action platformer game. I'm particularly reminded of Zelda II (NES) in how Kompy and enemies kind of bounce off each other when their weapons clash. Check out this insane speed run video of the whole game. This game was definitely the most involved of the three in terms of my programming efforts. It's at lot easier when you have 30 lives... that's all I'm gonna say! ;)

Conversation Parade

This game, or perhaps it should be called an activity, comes from the episode Rainy Day Daydream. Beemo asks you questions, you answer, and Beemo either finds you interesting or bores to sleep. It's pretty silly.

It's Beemo Time!

The Beemo - Adventure Time app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch was the #1 Free App in the iTunes App Store! The app is free, so you should totally check it out. I hope you have as much fun playing with Beemo as I had programming the app! I think that Ham in the Fridge and Cartoon Network did an absolutely amazing job planning and designing this app.